How much time are you allocating for your pleasure?

I don’t mean the hobbies you spend a few hours on over the weekend. I mean the things you love, however small, that give you great pleasure; like sunshine or the feel of swishy fabrics or the smell of your bed.

 

Are they split-second blips of awareness, or do you let yourself linger on these delights and receive them as they fill a tender place of resource within you?

 

If the last two weeks have given us more than a pervasive exhaustion, it is the embodied knowledge that life lived without pleasure is dim and devoid of heart. The preciousness of time teaches us that we must prioritize, or at least budget within the systems at hand to afford, our indispensable pleasure. Whether that’s a fancy coffee drink, or an afternoon off, or two more minutes in the car to finish your favorite song, valuing your own pleasure in the little moments between can help to stabilize your nervous system and nourish your will.

 

It is so easy to get caught up in the hustle, to accelerate our pace, especially when we feel insecure or compare ourselves to others. Aries season gives us a boost of confidence and energy to make progress on our goals. We add more tasks to the calendar, agree to more commitments, and one day we turn around and realize we have barely enough time to wash our hair. Taurus season asks us to slow down and choose our commitments wisely. It asks for both tenacity and strong boundaries. And in doing so, offers us the chance to incorporate pleasure.

 

For the last eight months, I’ve made a personal experiment of living in love. It’s not always consistent, it’s still a practice. It has required a great softening within and a new strength to hold my boundaries without. But what has helped to center me into this experiment is incorporating what I love into the mundane instead of rationing myself as if I need to earn pleasure. I take way more time lacing up my hiking boots, because I love the ritual of preparation. I lick the spoon slowly, every time. Pleasure can look like a nap on a beach, it can also look like the relief of a clean inbox. 

 

And what I’ve noticed from this experiment, is that not only am I more deeply connected with the present moment, I feel like I have way more time! And as someone who’s conditioning tells her she’s never doing enough (hello undefined Sacral Center!), the feeling of having so much time is a total game-changer. When we create space for our pleasure, we nourish the part of us that feels inadequate in comparison. We give that part love. 

Today’s New Moon in Taurus comes just before a significant sign change, when the Sun will move into Gemini on May 21. A new moon is the beginning of a lunar month; the time to start with a clean slate, to begin new projects, to manifest what you’d like to see or accomplish. So, we are beginning a new cycle and in a new sign, but we have the opportunity to thread through Gemini season some of the energy or qualities of this past Taurus season. Taurean energy is sensual, stubborn, and resourceful. This earthy energy is concerned with security and with seeing things through, though it isn’t always the most flexible or agile when its plan is contradicted. The beautiful challenge to Taurus energy is the understanding that change is gonna come, whether you move with it or not. 

 

With gentle aspects to Mars, Neptune, and Pluto, this new moon could provide the courage you need to take another crack at those long-term dreams or goals planned earlier this year. You could be feeling more confident, bolstered by a dreamy, spiritual energy. There’s the potential for things to get emotionally intense, but as a way to serve your drive and your desire for change.

 

As a word of caution, some Plutonian aspects could create tension or veil your perspective. While in that harmonious trine to the Moon, Pluto will also be opposite Mars which could create a conflict of growth and make us quick to judge. Make sure you’re checking your facts, and not forcing a change. Pluto will also be square Jupiter which can create a discomfort where the desire for expansion conflicts with the need for internal transformation. Perhaps another interpretation of “taking on your dreams” is more about your dreams for yourself, for the person you want to be.

 

At the peak of the New Moon in Taurus, the Sun and Moon will be in Gate 8.5 according to the Human Design calendar. Gate 8, found appropriately to this season in the Throat Center, is known as the Gate of Contribution, Holding Together. This is the gate of the Throat Center that says, “I know I can contribute.” Or “not.” It is the energy of the gallery curator, the talent agent, and the creative manager. When connected to Gate 1 in an individual’s design, you get a highly creative person who knows how to market themselves. When it is defined alone, these are the folks that carry incredible influence over the aesthetic choices of others, usually because they have great taste themselves. 

 

With regards to this New Moon, we may be feeling ready to use our voice, to contribute our perspective to the conversation in order to create a deeper union. It will also serve us to remember that an eventual splitting apart, separating, and/or creation of a third thing does not devalue a union. In fact, holding together in healthy expression will ensure a safe and healthy separation at the correct time. All invitations have an expiration. Let this inspire an even greater commitment to the integrity of your contribution.

As we transition from Taurus Season which (physiologically) rules the throat and the inner ear, into Gemini season where we are more concerned with communication, perhaps it’s time to check in with your voice. How has your communication been recently? Not just with others, but with yourself, too! Do you feel you can be honest with yourself, are you authentically expressing your thoughts and feelings through your own voice? When we have emotional blockages, pain, or tension patterns in the throat our communication is inhibited and all that is left unexpressed begins to take up residence somatically.

 

Earlier this year, a young woman came to me for a Human Design reading. She happened to be a Reflector with some really strong gate placements in her throat. But even in light conversation, I could sense the restriction in her voice. She spoke quietly and in short phrases; her jaw was tight and she didn’t open her mouth very wide. There was also a shallowness to her breath, like it only went as deep as the upper third of her lungs. After our reading, we talked about her relationship with her voice. I asked if she had ever had a cathartic yell, and she shook her head. “I can’t. I can’t do that,” she said. I asked if she had any known health issues with her voice or throat, and if she’d be interested in a series of three CranioSacral sessions. She said she was interested.

 

So about a week later, she came in and we had our first CST session. She left saying she felt relaxed and had some new thoughts and ideas brewing. The next session, she came in and greeted me with a clear hello, and we chatted easily and smoothly about how she was feeling. Her voice was brighter, her gaze was steadier and she faced me with open shoulders. A couple days before the third session, she texted to say that she had just had the most cathartic scream in her car after having to see an ex. She was ecstatic. When she came in for the third session, she confidently strode in wearing the most badass, main character, action hero outfit, talking and laughing and using the new name that she had long been thinking about. The change was so dramatic, I was floored. These days she is THRIVING and I am honored to witness the person she has fully embodied.

 

CranioSacral Therapy can have profound effects on more than just our physical form. When we release restrictions and tension patterns in tissue, as well as nourish the central nervous system by increasing the flow of CranioSacral fluid, we create a somatic environment that can process stress and trauma. We can encourage new neural pathways, deepen our self- and body awareness, and enrich our experience and perspective.

*Interested in CranioSacral Therapy but not local to PDX? 
Let me know, I'd be happy to help you find a practitioner in your area.